Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126258
• 40 [Continued jrom page 8) Eagan's moment of glo ry lasted until the banked first tum of th e second lap , where Cool ey powered by - only to be repassed in the esses by Eagan . Coole y passed Eagan again for good out of turn six , and Emde got by soon after. Both Cooley and Emde then got down to , business , running as fast as 2:12 lap times while Eagan ran 2:19s. By the third lap , the leaders wer e lapping backmarkers . Cod e had passed Eagan. Ritter had caught and passed Keoshgerian, and Alan GingereIli , riding a John Lassak tuned , Rustan's Yamaha/Dick's Cycle West /ND Spark Plugs-sponsored Yamaha RD400 (partner brother Dain Gingerelli) had moved up from the second wave start for 410cc and under machines into the top 10 overall. Turning 2: 191ap times. Gingerelli had ridden his small bike into sixth overall by the 15th lap . Leader Cooley was then turning around 2:15 lap times . with Emde not far behind. Gas stops for th e thirstier bikes sta rt ed , and it was eas y to see how different bikes could be in the hunt. Ritter and Breese picked up time whenever their competitors pitted, because the large tank on their Ducati Sport lasted an hour and 20 minutes between refills. Even though Breese turned lap times in the 2:23 bracket when he rode; he'd pass faster teams when they stopped for gas. Gingerelli's Yamaha needed gas every hour , but quick stops. no problems, and fast times kept it in the hunt. No ,problems , consistent , (although slower) . lap times and large gas tanks kept moving up the Suzuki of Santa Barbara teams of Kevin Burke/Bill Mahneke and Larry Cochran /Doug Hehnke on stock GS750s . Gas stops and problems plagued many teams' efforts to break into money-paying positions. Keoshgerian's Honda broke. as d id Breetwor's Triumph. The Racecrafters team lost nine laps when they miscalculated fuel tank capacity and Reg Pridmore ran out of ' gas in turn six of the infield. The team of Eagan/Ulrich/Waugh , running a stock tank , had to pit every 20 laps for fuel , and was hampered by a poor tire choice: the 'theory had been that the competition in the Open class couldn't run an entire six hours on rear slicks. and that K81s would go the distance . It turned out that 'both the 5 .60 H series Michelins used by Cooley/Murphy and Emde/Klinzmann and the Goodyear DI705 used by Code/Neilson/Pridmore did last the entire race , while ' the Eagan/Ulrich/ Waugh rear 4.10 Dunlop K81 wore enough from wheelspin to force a 40 second wheel change. Kilgroe's choice of Goodyear street tires didn't work out for his heavy Kawasaki. The Cooley /Murphy Kawasaki suffered through a long pit stop when the countershaft sprocket fell off luckily, as Murphy started to leave the pit after a gas stop. The Mack Cycle Center KZIOOO of Emde and Klinzmann ran without problem the entire race : pitting only for gas . Because Mack Kambayashi and crew had forgotten a pit signal board , Toshi Araki would run out to the pit wall and hold up a spare gas tank to signal in the bike for fuel stops. An enlarged tank and quick -fill equipment kept gas stops infrequent and under 30 seconds duration. Pridmore, in his first Kawasaki ride . brought the Racecrafters KZ1000 back into the hunt with blistering 2: 12 lap times - times only matched by the Cooley /Murphy and the Klinzmann/Emde bikes. Meanwhile, the slower-but -steadier teams of Ritter/Breese , Alan and Dain Gingerelli. Burke /Mahneke , Cochran/Hehnke, Bob T igert/Dennis Ro g ers (W ri g h t Brothers . Inc . Yamaha 400 ), and Stan Smith/Mike Velasco (R ,].S. Engineering/Torco Oil Honda CB400F) kept rolling, pi cking up places as mechanical problems, rider fatigue and crashes slowed and thinned the field . Increasing headwinds on the front stra igh t cost many smaller machines 10 miles per hour in the later stages of the race , and sidewinds through the esses complicated the efforts of riders on lightweight machines trying to hold lines . With 10 minutes to go . Cooley had passed Emde and stretched out about a 30-second lead. The question was. were the two on the same lap? A more immediate problem for the Cooley crew was the fact that Cooley's bike was due for more gas. A 10.5-second gas stop using' a quick-fill tank solved the problem , and Cooley crossed the finish line 17 seconds ahead of Emde. With the faIling of the checkered flag, the protests for first overall started, driving the head scorer to distraction and moving the harassed AFM officials to call off the trophy presentation, take the protests under advisement , and promise to send results when available. Cycle News obtained official results late Sunday night for all but the Open class and overall. which were still under protest. Final results were announced Monday. Gordon Seim, who holds several Bonneville records with Can-Arns, teamed with brother Robert to win the 250 class on a Can-Am 250 TNT. 1976 250cc class winners Curt Relick and Gary Saunders (Yam) finished between the Seims and the third-place, Can-Am of Mark Apple and Frank Rogers. Dennis Smith and Ken Farmer took a GS550 Suzuki to its first competition victory by winning the 550 class , followed by the Hondas of Jeff \ Loughridge/Wendell Philips and Eric Bert/Oscar Jackson. Official overall results OVERAlL: 1. Woo Cooley. JrJTony Murphy 1153 Iapsl: 2 . David Emde/Harry Klinzmann 1152 laps): 3. Kaith Code/Cook Nailson/Rag Pridmora 1147 Iapsl: 4. Paul RitterNancB Br..... 1147 laps): 5. Dain and Alan Gingeralli 1146 lapsl : 6. Pat Eagan/John UlrichlTerry Waugh 1145 lapsl : 7. Kevin Burke /Bill Mahneke (143 laps); 8. Larry Cochran /Dough Helmke 1143 laPS): 9. Bob Tigert/Dennis Rogers (142 laps); 10. Stan Smith/Mike Velaszco (140 laps). OFFICIAL CLASS RESULTS . OPEN: 1. CooleyfMurphy IKawl: 2. EmdeJKlinzmann (Kawl: 3. Code/Neilson/Pridmore (Kawl : 4,Eagan/Ulrich! Waugh (Suz). 750: 1. Ritter /Breese IDuel; 2. BurkeiMahneke (Suzl; 3. Cochran/Hehnke. 550 : 1. Smith/Farmer (Suz): 2. Phillips/Loughridge (Hen): 3. Batt/Jackson (Hen). 410: 1. Gingeralli/Gingerelli (Yaml : 2. Tigert/Rogers ' (Yam): 3. Sm ithNaiasco (Honl. 250: 1. SaimiSaim (C-AI; 2 , RelickJSaunders (Yam): 3. AppieIRogers (C-Al. Saturday sprint races Harry Klinzrnann's Toomey Racing TZ250 was the fastest GP bike on the track during Saturday's sprint races . which drew a sparse entry. Klinzrnann's usual competition either broke or didn't show up, Bill Henry used his Gary Shumake (Specialists Two) RD350 to win the Supersrreet race overall , with no problem. Gordon Seirn , who would ride a Can-Am 250 to victory in Sunday's Six-Hour. used a Can-Am 175 to beat the 200 Production class. followed by Art Friedman on another 175 CanAm . Emile Mullick brought some consolation to British iron fans by winning the combined 5501750/0pen Production race overall with Ken Canaga's 750 Norton. beating Byron Farnsworth's 706cc Kawasaki KZ650. Mullick's race was the last top-ten finish for non -Japanese motorcycles the entire race weekend . Farnsworth's Kawasaki : which he rode with Roger Hagie on Sunday, broke in the SixHour race. • Sprint race results in Results Section.